Andi wants no part of school. School means being away from the ranch all day. School means wearing dresses and sitting next to a boy who throws dead flies at her. Andi didn't think she was afraid of anything--until now. Being sent to the corner for something she didn't do is just too much! Andi is leaving . . . and she's not going back.
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Chapter 1
Hide and Seek
Andi
Carter peeked over the half-door of her horse’s stall.
“Nobody’s
coming,” she whispered. “This is a good hiding place. Maybe I’m safe.”
Andi’s
baby horse, Taffy, swished her tail. She nibbled Andi’s hair. Then she stamped
her hoof and whinnied.
Let’s go
play! Taffy seemed to be saying.
“Shhh!”
Andi said. “You have to be quiet, so nobody finds me.”
Taffy’s
mama, Snowflake, turned her large, white head and looked at Andi.
“You have
to be quiet too,” Andi said. “I can’t come out until the buggy drives away.”
Just then
Andi heard the barn door creak open. She heard footsteps coming closer.
Uh-oh!
Andi
ducked into a corner. She wiggled down in the golden straw and squeezed her
eyes shut. She tried not to breathe . . . or sneeze.
“Hey,
Andi!”
The loud
voice made Andi jump. Her eyes popped open.
Her
friend Riley was poking his head over the stall door.
“What are
you doing in here?” he asked. “Your brother is looking all over for you.”
Andi
frowned. Nosy ol’ Riley!
Maybe
this is not a good hiding place, after all, she thought.
“Shhh!”
Andi told Riley in a loud whisper. “I’m hiding. I can’t let Justin find me.”
“Too
late,” Andi’s big brother Justin said. He came up behind Riley and opened the
stall door. “I found you. It’s time to go.” He smiled.
Andi
didn’t move. Her stomach felt fluttery. Like a hundred butterflies were flying
around in there.
It was
not a good feeling.
“You and
Melinda can go,” Andi said. “I’m staying home with Riley and Taffy.”
“Oh, no,
you’re not,” Justin said.
He walked
right over to Andi’s hiding place and picked her up.
“Put me
down!” Andi hollered. She squirmed to get free.
But her
big brother was too strong.
“Today is
your first day of school,” Justin said. “You don’t want to be late.”
He walked
out of the barn and into the bright sunshine.
“I can’t go to school,” Andi said.
“I have to train Taffy. I have to take care of Coco. I have to—”
“All
little girls and boys must go to school,” Justin said. He kept walking.
“Riley
doesn’t have to go to school,” Andi said.
She
twisted around and saw Riley running to the cookhouse. “He gets to help his
Uncle Sid with ranch work.”
“Only
until Riley goes home,” Justin said. “Then he’ll have to go back to school.”
Justin
was right about that. Riley was just staying on the ranch until his mother got
well.
Justin
carried Andi to the buggy. He set her down next to Melinda, Andi’s big sister.
Eleven-year-old
Melinda looked fresh and pretty—like always. A big, blue bow tied back her
hair. She held her school books in her lap. She was smiling.
But
Melinda’s smile didn’t last long.
She saw
Andi and gasped. “What happened to you?
You’re all rumpled. Your hair is full of straw. You can’t go to school looking
like that.”
“I
can’t?” Andi said. Then she grinned. “Good. I’ll stay home.”
Quick as
a wink, Andi jumped out of the buggy.
But
Justin was quick too. He grabbed her arm.
“Not so
fast, young lady,” he said. “Get back in the buggy.”
Andi
pouted. But she did what her brother told her.
Justin
climbed into the buggy and picked up the reins. “Giddyup, Pal,” he said.
The horse
took off at a fast trot. Away from the ranch.
Andi turned around. She hung on to the back of the buggy seat and watched the ranch house get smaller.
She saw
Riley carrying firewood for Cook.
She saw
her two other big brothers putting saddles on their horses.
“No
fair!” Andi grouched. “Chad and Mitch don’t have to go to school.”
Just then
Melinda pulled Andi around.
“Can’t
you stay clean for one hour?” she scolded. “You look like a tomboy for the
first day of school.”
Melinda
began to pick the straw out of Andi’s hair.
“Stop
that!” Andi yanked her braids away.
Justin
caught Andi’s hand. “There’s nothing to be afraid of,” he said.
“I’m not
afraid!” Andi hollered.
But that
wasn’t exactly true.
Andi was afraid. She did not want to
leave the ranch. She did not want to be gone all day in that scary new town
called Fresno.
So many
strangers! So many buildings! Streets full of horses and wagons.
Worst of
all, there would be a school full of strange children. They would all stare at
Andi—the youngest pupil.
A shiver
went down Andi’s neck.
She felt
sick inside.
Chapter 2
China Doll or Tomboy?
Justin
stopped the buggy in front of a big, white schoolhouse. “Here we are, girls.”
Andi
stared at her lap.
“Look,
Andi.” Justin pointed to the roof. “Your school has a new bell.”
Andi
looked up. Then she shrugged. “It’s just a bell.”
Justin
winked at her. “Miss Hall sometimes lets her pupils ring the bell.”
Andi
looked at the bell again. It might be fun to ring the bell.
But she
didn’t tell Justin that. “I want to go home,” she said.
“Tell her
not to make a fuss, Justin,” Melinda begged. She scowled at Andi.
Andi
scowled back.
Justin
tugged on one of Andi’s braids. “Try to act like a little lady today,” he said,
smiling.
Andi
didn’t answer.
Melinda
hopped down. She put her books in one hand. With her other hand she helped Andi
to the ground.
Then she
grabbed their lunch pail from the back of the buggy.
Justin
waved good-bye and drove away.
“Come on,
Andi,” Melinda said. “I’m so excited!”
Excited? Andi
looked around the schoolyard. She
was not excited.
Not at
all.
A whole
bunch of strange boys and girls were laughing and running and shouting. They
were all bigger than Andi.
When the
children saw Andi, they stopped what they were doing and stared at her.
Andi
stared back. Stop looking at me!
But she
did not say those rude words out loud.
Instead,
Andi followed Melinda into the schoolyard.
Even if
she didn’t want to.
Suddenly,
a big girl squealed, “Melinda! I haven’t seen you all summer!”
“Sarah!”
Melinda squealed back. She set her books and the lunch pail on the ground. Then
she raced over to Sarah.
Andi
stood frozen. Melinda was leaving!
Wait!
Stop! Andi tried to shout.
But the
words would not come out. A big lump was stuck in her throat.
All Andi
could do was watch those two silly girls.
They hugged.
They giggled. They jumped up and down. They whispered.
Then they
linked arms and walked back to Andi.
“Your
little sister is adorable,”
Sarah told Melinda with a giggle. “And what a darling dress and pinafore! If
you brushed out her hair and gave her a big bow, she would look just like a
china doll.”
Sarah
giggled again.
Andi
rolled her eyes. Sarah giggled just like Melinda. Giggle boxes!
Andi
tugged on Melinda’s sleeve. “Tell that girl I like braids best,” she whispered.
Melinda
shook her head and told Andi to hush.
Andi
frowned. Then she dug her hand into her pinafore pocket.
Most of
the time, Andi kept special treasures in her overalls pockets. But her overalls
were at home. All she had today was a pocket in her new pinafore.
But Andi
had put a brand new, extra-special treasure in that pocket just this morning.
She
pulled it out.
“My brother Mitch killed a rattlesnake last week,” Andi told Sarah. “He cut off the rattle and gave it to me. Mitch says it’s the biggest snake he ever saw.”
She
opened her hand. “See?”
A
gray-and-white rattlesnake’s rattle lay in Andi’s palm. She poked it with her
finger. “That brown stuff is dried blood.”
Sarah
sucked in her breath.
“Do you
want to shake it?” Andi asked. She held the rattle up to Sarah.
Sarah
backed up. “N-no, thanks!” Then she ran for the schoolhouse.
Melinda
put her hands on her hips. “Did you have to show Sarah that disgusting snake’s rattle?”
“Yep,”
Andi said, grinning. “Then maybe she won’t call me a china doll anymore.”
“For sure
she won’t,” Melinda said. “She’ll call you a tomboy instead.”
Andi put
her brand new, extra-special treasure back in her pocket. “Good.” She kept
smiling.
“You
better not show anybody else that thing,” Melinda told her. “Miss Hall will
punish you if she sees it.”
Just
then, the bell began to ring.
A boy
stood on the porch. He was pulling a rope. The rope was tied to a big bell on
the roof.
Clang,
clang!
“Come
on,” Melinda said. She picked up her books and the lunch pail. Then she took
Andi’s hand. “School’s starting.”
Andi hung
back. “Do I have to go in there, Melinda?”
Melinda’s
grumpy voice turned soft. “Yes, you really do. Mother said so. Don’t be a
scaredy-cat. I’ll hold your hand.”
“I’m not a scaredy-cat!” Andi said.
But that
wasn’t exactly true.
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